Natural Gas for heavy-duty vehicles

Amid growing environmental awareness and with consumers increasingly sensitive to poor air quality in cities, the transportation sector has to undergo rapid and profound change. In Europe, 20% of CO2 emissions originate from road transportation. Despite some improvements in fuel consumption efficiency in recent years, these emissions are still rising, mainly due to increasing road freight traffic. Air Liquide wants to help road transportation companies to significantly cut their polluting emissions.

A sustainable solution to reduce emissions from road transportation

CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) and LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) offer three major benefits. As clean energies, they simultaneously reduce particulate, NOx and CO2 emissions compared to diesel, in particular when they are produced from biomethane. NGVs are also quiet, which is a real advantage for urban and suburban deliveries, especially at night. Lastly, as of a certain milage, these fuels are more economical, with a lower cost price per mile than diesel.

CNG and LNG are alternatives to conventional fuel. They provide a response to the challenges of clean transportation: Reducing greenhouse gases, pollution in our cities and dependence on oil-­based fuels while maintaining competitiveness.

Based on in-house biomethane purification technology, and on know-how in the fields of industrial gas distribution, compressed gases and cryogenics, Air Liquide has developed a complete range of integrated bio-LNG/CNG solutions, which include the production of this renewable fuel from waste, to its distribution in refueling stations.

With this range, Air Liquide is introducing scientific and technological innovations that will open up new markets while addressing today’s economic and environmental challenges.

Testimonial

We were looking for innovative ways to offer our customers sustainable freight solutions.

Staying true to the principles of COP21, we were looking for innovative ways to offer our customers sustainable freight solutions. Air Liquide has been instrumental in this adventure by commissioning the first multi-energy refuelling station in Europe.

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Supplying biomethane to customers seeking to reduce their CO2 emission

With the distribution of CNG/LNG, in addition to the development of biomethane production, Air Liquide contributes to the entire clean mobility chain, from production to use. In a world where energy needs and sources are changing rapidly, the ability to transform organic resources into renewable and totally carbon-free energy is poised to become part of the new energy mix. Energy produced in this way has the advantage of being easy to store while meeting the demand for clean transportation solutions.

Biomethane is made from biogas. Biogas is a renewable energy produced from biomass or sanitary landfills. Composed primarily of methane and carbon dioxide (CO2 ), biogas is efficiently upgraded to biomethane through purification. Biomethane, which is a virtuous form of energy, can replace natural gas as vehicle fuel.

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What is a multi-energy station?

It is a station that offers several types of gas for vehicles: compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquid nitrogen (LN2). Trucks with urban and interurban delivery routes can run on CNG and LNG. Trucks with cryogenic refrigeration units need liquid nitrogen for the refrigerated transportation of foodstuffs (Air Liquide's Blueeze Solution). Eventually, hydrogen could complete the range of energies available in these stations, to refuel individual vehicles and corporate fleets.

This subsidiary allows Air Liquide to strengthen our understanding of consumers' new practices in terms of clean transportation, while contributing to the development of the Swedish biogas industry. FordonsGas owns and operates nearly 50 NGV stations in Sweden, making it one of the largest distribution networks for this alternative fuel in that country. The stations operated by FordonsGas enable the owners and users of natural gas vehicles (NGVs) - taxis, corporate vehicle fleets, buses, and passenger cars - to have access to fuel that is more environmentally friendly. At least 50% of the natural gas distributed is produced from renewable energies.